Chapter 10 Chapter 9 The Cat Among the Pigeons

Letter from Jennifer Sutcliffe to her mother: dear mom: We had a murder here last night.It was Miss Springer, the physical education teacher, who was killed.It happened in the middle of the night, the police came and they were questioning everyone this morning. Miss Chadwick told us not to tell anyone, but I thought you wanted to know. Female on jennifer Greenfields was an educational institution of considerable standing, and it received the personal attention of the Chief of Police.Miss Bulstrode did not let things run their course while the usual inquiries were being made.She called a newspaper mogul and the interior minister, both personal friends of hers.As a result of her activities, little newspaper coverage of the matter occurred.A physical education teacher was found dead in the school gym after being shot, though manslaughter has yet to be determined.Most of the comments on the matter in the newspapers took an almost justifiable tone, as if a physical education teacher was shot dead under such circumstances, it was completely clumsy and incompetent.

Ann Shaplan has been busy all day dictating letters to parents.Miss Bulstrode knew that it would be a waste of time to tell the pupils to keep the matter quiet.Students will certainly write to report to their parents or guardians, and will make things more or less sensational.She intends to send her own well-written and reasonable account of the tragedy to parents and guardians alike. Later that afternoon she had a secret meeting with Chief Constable Mr. Stone and Inspector Kelsey.The police are in full agreement with the press to keep the tone of the incident down as much as possible.This allows them to conduct the interrogation quietly and without interference.

"I am very sorry about the matter, Miss Bulstrode, very sorry indeed," said the Constable. "I think it has been—ah—unlucky for you." "It is true that murder is a misfortune for any school," said Miss Bulstrode, "but it is no use thinking about it now. We can certainly live with it, as we have done before It weathers the storm like any other. My only hope is that things will come to light soon." "Don't see why it can't be solved quickly, do you?" Stone said.He looked at Kelsey. "It might help if we knew what she was going through," Kelsey said.

"Do you really think so?" asked Miss Bulstrode dryly. "There might be someone who has a grudge against her," Kelsey suggested. Miss Bulstrode was silent. "Do you think that this matter is closely connected with this place?" asked the police chief. "Inspector Kelsey does feel that way," said Miss Bulstrode. "I think he's just keeping my feelings out of it." "I think it does have something to do with the Meadows," said the Inspector slowly. "If she wants to date anybody, he can make it wherever he likes. Why come to the gym here at midnight?"

"We would like to search the school premises, would that be all right, Miss Bulstrode?" asked the Constable. "Exactly. I suppose you're looking for that pistol, or that revolver, or something, aren't you?" "Yes. A small foreign-made pistol." "Foreign," said Miss Bulstrode thoughtfully. "As far as you know, do any of your teachers or your students own such a thing as a pistol?" "Certainly not, as far as I know," said Miss Bulstrode. "No one of the pupils has, I am quite sure. They have opened everything they bring with them to school, and if any of this kind things, we'll find them, attract attention, and I think people will talk about them. But, Inspector Kelsey, if you please, you can do what you like in this respect. I People who saw you were searching the campus today."

The Inspector nodded, "Yes." Then he said: "I'd also like to meet and talk with the rest of the teachers. Maybe some of them overheard Miss Springer saying something and could give us some clues. Or saw something unusual in her behavior. Office." He paused, then continued, "Maybe talk to students, too." Miss Bulstrode said: "I had intended to speak briefly to the students after evening service today. I was going to ask them that if any of them knew anything about Springer's death, they Just come and tell me." "That's a good idea," said the police chief.

"But you have to remember that," said Miss Bulstrode, "that some of the pupils exaggerate little things, or even make them up, in order to show themselves. Schoolgirls can do very queer things, but , I think you are used to this kind of pushy situation." "I've had that happen before," said Inspector Kelsey. "Well, please give me a list of your staff here, and a list of your fellow workers." "I've gone through all the wardrobes in the gymnasium, Inspector." "And you found nothing," Kelsey said. "Yes, Inspector, nothing of importance has been found. There are funny things in some wardrobes, but nothing relevant to our profession."

"The wardrobes aren't even locked, are they?" "Yes, Inspector, not locked. The wardrobe can be locked. There are keys in it, but none of them are locked." Kelsey looked around thoughtfully at the clean floor.The tennis racquets and La Crosse sticks had been returned to the racks. "Okay," he said, "I'm going to the school to talk to the teacher now." "Don't you think it was done by someone in the school, Inspector?" "Probably," said Kelsey, "and then, after killing her, anyone could go through the jungle and slip back into the house by the side door, and by the time someone called the police, he'd be back in bed." Sleep is over. The tricky thing is the motive.” He went on, “Well, the tricky thing is the motive. Unless someone is doing something here and we don’t know about it, there doesn’t seem to be a motive problem. "

He walked out of the gymnasium and walked slowly towards the building.Although it was past closing time, old Briggs, the gardener, was going to continue working in the flower beds for a while, when he saw the inspector pass by, he stood up. "What are you doing so late?" Kelsey said with a smile. "Ah," said Briggs, "young people don't know a thing about gardening. Go to work at eight and finish at five—they think that's gardening. You gotta watch the weather, sometimes you can just stay inside Not in the garden, and sometimes you can work from seven in the morning till eight at night. That is, if you love the place and look at it with pride."

"You should be proud of this garden," Kelsey said. "I've never seen a garden in such good condition." "That's right, it is," said Briggs. "But, as I said, I was lucky. I had a good man to help me, and he found it himself." "Is it recent?" Inspector Kelsey asked. "Earlier of the term," Briggs said. "His name is Adam. Adam Goodman." "I don't seem to have seen him here," Kelsey said. "He's got a day off today," Briggs said. "I agree. We don't seem to have much to do today with you running around here."

"Someone should tell me about him," Kelsey said eagerly. "What do you mean, tell you about his situation?" "He's not on my list," Zeng Du said, "I mean the list of the staff here." "Oh, never mind, you can see him tomorrow, sir," said Briggs, "I don't think he has anything to tell you." "That's hard to say," said the inspector. A strong young man who volunteered to be here at the beginning of the term?From Kelsey's point of view, this was the first, perhaps a little unusual thing that happened to him. That night, the students entered the auditorium in single file, as usual, for Vespers.When the prayers were over, Miss Bulstrode raised her hand for everyone to stay. "You can come and see me in my living room anytime tonight." "Oh," sighed Julia Upjohn, "if only we knew something! But we don't, do we, Jennifer?" "Yeah," Jennifer said, "of course we don't know." "Miss Springer has always looked so ordinary," said Juliette sadly, "that she could not have been murdered so mysteriously." "I don't think it's very mysterious," Jennifer said. "It's just a burglar." "To steal our tennis rackets, I suppose?" Julia said sarcastically. "Maybe someone blackmailed her." A student reminded everyone hopefully. "Blackmail what?" Jennifer said. But no one could see why Miss Springer should be blackmailed. Inspector Kelsey began individual conversations with the teachers, Miss Vansittart first.Kelsey looked her over and thought she was a decent woman.He was about forty or a little over forty, tall, well-proportioned, with well-coiffed gray hair.To Kelsey, she seemed reserved and composed. Self-possessed, I feel that I am a person with status.Kelsey thought she was a bit like Miss Bulstrode, quite the governess type.Still, Kelsey felt, there was something about Miss Bulstrode that Miss Vansittart did not.Miss Bulstrode behaved unexpectedly, and he did not feel anything unexpected about Miss Vansittart. Questions and answers proceed as usual.Miss Vansittart actually saw nothing, noticed nothing, heard nothing.Miss Springer did a great job.True, she was a little rough, but Miss Vansittart did not think she was too much.Her personality may not be terribly likable, but it's certainly not a requirement for a physical education teacher.In fact, it is better not to hire teachers with attractive personalities in schools.It is not enough for students to be deeply attached to teachers. Since Miss Vansittart could not provide any important information, she resigned. "No evil seen, no evil heard, no evil thought. Like a monkey," remarked Sergeant Sergeant Cy Bond, who had come to assist Inspector Kelsey in his mission. Kelsey grinned. "Perhaps that's true, Yusey," he said. "Female teachers are always a bit of a bummer," said Sergeant Bond. "I grew up terrified of them. I remember one that was like a ghoul. She was so domineering, she put on airs, and you never knew what she was teaching you." thing." The next one to come out was Miss Eileen Rich.It's ugly is Kelsey's first reaction to her.Since then, Kelsey's impression of her has changed, and she thinks she is not without touching.He began the routine questioning, but the answers were not quite as routine as he had expected.After Eileen Leech's first remark about Miss Springer that she had neither heard nor heeded anything particularly noteworthy said by anyone else or by Springer himself, her The answer was not what Kelsey expected.He once asked her: "As far as you know, no one has a personal grudge against her?" "Oh, no," replied Irene Rich at once, "it's impossible for anyone to have a personal grudge against her. That's the pathetic thing about her, you know, she's not a hated person, I think. That's right." "What do you mean by that, Miss Rich?" "I mean, she's definitely not someone you'd want to kill and die for. Everything she does and thinks is visible. She's a nuisance, and people Bickered with her a lot. But it's nothing. It's nothing. I don't think she was killed for anything of her own, if you know what I mean." "I still don't quite understand you, Miss Rich." "I mean, if someone robbed a bank, she'd probably be the cash teller who got shot, but it'd have to be a teller, not Grace Springer. No one would love her so much. Or want to kill her. She probably feels it without thinking about it. So she's very nosy. You know, find trouble, make people play by the rules, find out who's doing it Expose what you shouldn't do." "Spy?" Kelsey asked. "No, not really a spy," said Irene Rich thoughtfully, "but if she finds something she doesn't understand, she's determined to get to the bottom of it. And she just finds out." "I see." He paused. "You don't really like her very much yourself, do you, Miss Rich?" "But she takes it for granted. And takes pride in doing a job well. She's not kidding. And when she finds out that a student might be good at tennis, or in a certain sport There's talent in the world, but she's not very interested in it. She's not excited about it, she's not flattered by it." Kelsim looked at her curiously.What a strange young woman, he thought. "You seem to have your own opinion on most things, Miss Rich," he said. "Yes, I think so." "How long have you been in Fangcaodi?" "Just a little over a year and a half." "Have you never had any trouble before?" "In Fangcao?" She said in surprise. "yes." "Oh, no. Everything was fine until this term." Kelsey suddenly asked: "What's up with this semester? You don't mean the murder thing, do you? You mean something else—" "I'm not—" she paused. "Yes, maybe I mean that—but it's all just a little bit." "Go on" "Miss Bulstrode hasn't been very happy lately," said Irene slowly. "It's a thing. You don't know it. I don't think anyone even notices it. But I do. And she's not alone in being upset. But it's not what you want to know." , isn't it? It's just a human feeling, the feeling you get when you're stuck in your head and thinking too much about one thing. You mean, just this semester, have you watched It's an unusual thing to come, you mean that, don't you?" "Right," said Kelsey, looking at her curiously. "You're right. So, what's going on?" "I see something unusual here," Eileen Rich said slowly. "There seems to be one of us who doesn't always fit in with us." She looked at him, smiled, almost laughed, and went on, "Like a cat in a flock of pigeons, that's what it feels like. We're Pigeons, all of them, and this cat is among us, but we just can't see him." "That's too mysterious, Miss Rich." "Yes, doesn't it? Sounds silly. I think so myself. I guess what I really mean is that there's something, a little thing, that I've noticed, but I don't know what I've noticed. what." "Is it about someone?" "For me to judge, all I can say is that there's this guy here who's - somehow - out of order! There's this guy here - I don't know who - that makes me feel awkward. Not when I see When she is, but when she looks at me. Because it's when she looks at me that the thing comes out, whatever it is. Oh, I'm really getting more and more incoherent. Anyway, it's just It's a feeling. It's not what you're looking for. It's not evidence." "Yes," Kelsey said, "it's not evidence. Not yet. But it's interesting. When your feelings become a little clearer, Miss Rich, please let me know and I'll be happy to listen. " She nodded. "Okay," she said, "because it's serious, right? I mean someone got killed—we don't know why—and the killer could be thousands of miles away, or on the contrary, the killer could be Right in front of you, right here in this school, if so, the pistol, the revolver, or whatever it's called, must be here too. I don't think that's a good idea, do I?" She nodded slightly and went out.Sergeant Bond said: "Crazy—don't you think so?" "No," Kelsey said, "I don't think she's crazy. I think she's what people call a neurotic. You know, it's like some people already know when there's a cat in the room, even though they Haven't seen the cat yet. If she had been born into a tribe in Africa, she might have been a witch." "They go around looking for crimes, don't they?" said Sergeant Bond. "That's right, Rosie," said Kelsey, "and that's exactly what I'm going to do myself. No one's given any concrete facts, so I've had to look around. We're going to Talk to that Frenchwoman."